AirAdvisor initiated a petition to the President of Ukraine

Vote for a petition for the protection of your rights!If you or your relatives or friends were suffering from flight delays, support our useful initiative. Do notbe passive, tell the STOP a terrible service оf Ukrainian air carriers and get an air compensation of up to$ 700 the next time you have a flight delay!Every day hundreds of people who are affected by the delays in flights of Ukrainian Airlines are callingus. People without any explanation from the carriers spend at airports from 6 to 30 hours, without asingle right to assistance and compensation. That is why our company initiated amendments to the AirCode of Ukraine.We are for human and comfortable terms of air travel, and respect for European passenger rights!Join the petition: https://petition.president.gov.ua/petition/45764

Petition text:Dear Mr. President,The acute and urgent need to send you this e-petition is due to the extremely negative situationprevailing in the air transport market of Ukraine and the market for providing tourist services, theabsolute and total violation of the rights of consumers by air carriers, the task of numerous financiallosses in the tourism industry.The Scale of the problem:1) According to official data of the State Aviation Service of Ukraine for the first quarter of 2018, 2964flights were delayed on the fault of air carriers, and 309 flights were cancelled, which, according tovarious estimates, covers about 500 000 passengers.2) Only according to the company "Air Advisor", which deals with the protection of the rights of airpassengers in Ukraine, dozens of passengers of Ukrainian airlines are contacted daily, whose flights weredelayed more than 3 hours. For each application, claims to airlines are prepared and sent with therequirement to pay compensation to the passenger, as stipulated by the legislation. Only a smallnumber of claims were satisfied. Ukrainian air carriers such as Azureair, YanEyr and Ada did not respondat all to requests received.Topicality:The problem described in this electronic petition has existed for many years. At present, the scale of theproblem has reached a critical level, which it is impossible to put up with:1) In the last month alone, this has led to several accidents of Ukrainian aircraft and the holding ofthousands of Ukrainian passengers at airports of different countries within a few days;2) That confirmed by numerous reports of TV channels: ICTV, Ukraine, 1+1, Inter and others in thisregard.Important factors:

1) The risk to the lives of hundreds of people, since some airlines operate outdated aircraft thatregularly suffer technical malfunctions;2) EU countries have long been protecting their citizens through effective legislation and judicial system.Ukraine has adopted the relevant European norms in 2011, but only partially fulfils them. As a result, itnegatively affects the image of Ukraine as a whole and in the eyes of foreign visitors;3) The current state of affairs is discriminatory about European air carriers, which are obliged to observethe rights of Ukrainian air passengers and this places them in non-competitive conditions. This issue hasalready been raised by various international business associations operating in Ukraine;4) The problem poses a threat to the European integration of Ukraine and may negatively affect thecountry&#39;s reformist image of the EU, the IMF and other foreign partners.The reaction of state bodies:July 03, 2018 Minister of Infrastructure Omelyan was forced to hold an urgent meeting on the massivefailures of flights, including for technical reasons. As a result:1) Mr. Minister instructed the State Aviation Service to inspect all aircraft of Ukrainian air carriers, whichalready belongs to the functions of the State Aviation Service;2) create a rating of airlines and prepare a legal basis for the prohibition of the use of aircraft over theage of 20 years.Insufficient measures. Congratulating Mr. Minister for such decisions, I am convinced that these stepswill not be enough to solve this problem. After all, the aviation industry was in such a difficult situationdue to the following:1) Insufficient level of control by the State Aviation Service, which has already led to massive and dailybreakdowns of planes. Accordingly, a one-time re-inspection of the fleet will not solve the problem inthe long run, and may only have a temporary effect. It is necessary to change the control tools byintroducing real and practical means.2) lack of real liability on the part of air carriers and effective levers of influence on them. In particular,massively and casually Ukrainian air carriers:a) refuse to accept the complaints of passengers by electronic means, requiring the submission ofcomplaints only by traditional mail, which contradicts the Law on Citizens&#39; Appeal;b) violate the time limit for responding to a passenger&#39;s complaint and often do not respond at all tocomplaints that contravene the Air Passenger and Baggage Rules approved by the Ministry ofThe infrastructure of Ukraine Decree No. 735 dated November 30, 2012;c) refuse to pay monetary compensations for long delays of flights provided for by the Air Code ofUkraine and other regulatory, legal actsSolving the problem requires the leadership of the President of Ukraine to support legislative changes tobring passenger protection to real European standards.It is precisely the proof of the state of affairs that it is evidence that the actions of the State AviationService is not sufficient, and the current legislation does not correspond to reality.

As with the issue of &quot;no-visa&quot; for Ukrainians, the situation requires the intervention of the President as aguarantor of the rights and freedoms of the citizens and a representative of our state in theinternational community.More 14 years ago (in 2004), section I of the Law of Ukraine "On the National Program of Adaptation ofUkrainian Legislation to the Law of the European Union" of March 18, 2004, No. 1629-IV (hereinafterreferred to as the "Law No. 1629-IV"), Ukraine adopted a nationwide the Program of Adaptation of

Ukrainian Legislation to the Law of the European Union (hereinafter - the Program), which clearly statesthat, "the adaptation of the Ukrainian legislation to the EU legislation is a priority component of theprocess of Ukraine integration into the European Union, which in turn is a priority direction. Ukrainianforeign policy."Contents of the petition:According to the same Law No. 1629-IV, the purpose of adopting Ukrainian legislation to the legislationof the European Union is to achieve the conformity of the legal system of Ukraine with the acquis communal, taking into account the criteria put forward by the European Union (EU) to the stateswhich intend to enter it.In accordance with Section II of Law No. 1629-IV "Definition of Terms", & "Acquis communautaire (acquis)- the legal system of the European Union, which includes acts of the European Union (but not limited tothem) adopted within the framework of the European Community, the Common Foreign and SecurityPolicy and Cooperation in the area of justice and home affairs; Adaptation of the legislation is a processof bringing the laws of Ukraine and other normative legal acts in line with the acquis communautaire.Sources of the acquis communautaire: ... the judgment of the European Court".In accordance with paragraph 8 of Part I "Introduction" of Section 14 "Transport" The list of acts of thelegislation of Ukraine and the acquis of the European Union in the priority areas of adaptation of LawNo. 1629-IV "For the realization of the national policy of Ukraine - accession to the European Union -Ukraine has to adapt its national legislation and the practice of its application to the entire EU systemof law so that the relevant European acquis standards are fully incorporated into the national legalsystem (third Copenhagen Criterion).The transport acquis of the EU consists of all directives, regulations, and decisions adopted by therelevant articles of the constituent agreements. It also includes the principles of law and jurisprudenceof the Court of Justice, international agreements in the field of transport to which the Community is aparty, as well as the relevant declarations and resolutions of the Council of Ministers. Thisunderstanding of the transport acquis is explicitly indicated by the Directorate General of the EUCommission on Transport in the "Transport acquis roadmap&quot; developed specifically for the candidatecountries".That is since Ukraine has adopted Law No. 1629-IV, which proclaimed the priority of its foreign policythe adaptation of the national legislation to EU legislation, including the decisions of the EuropeanCourt, has passed for more than 14 years! We want to draw your attention to the fact that for 14 yearsthe law No. 1629-IV has been violated and not implemented! Naturally, this can lead to complication ofthe process of Ukraine integration into the European community, the emergence of dissatisfaction andmisunderstanding from our European partners.In compliance with the Law No. 1629-IV, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a new version of theAir Code of Ukraine on 19.05.2011, in which the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 "On the

establishment of general rules in the field of compensation and assistance to passengers in the event ofrefusal in landing, cancellation or prolonged flight delay and the abrogation of Regulation (EEC) No.295/91 "(hereinafter referred to as "Regulation No. 261/2004").Regulation No. 261/2004 was also directly implemented in the Air Passenger, and Baggage Rulesapproved by order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine No. 735 dated November 30, 2012. (fromnow on referred to as "Air Traffic Rules"). In particular, in clause 1 of the Rules of air transportation ofpassengers and baggage (approved by order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine No. 735 datedNovember 30, 2012) It is expressly stated: "These Rules have been developed taking into account therequirements of ... Regulation (EU) of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 11,2004, No. 261/2004 on the introduction of general rules for compensation and assistance topassengers in the event of denied boarding and cancellation or long delay of flights ... "In this case, the European Court of Justice in Nelson v. Lufthansa and TUI and others v. The AviationControl Authority (TUI and others v. CAA) (case C581/10 and S629/10) upheld the decisions of thenational courts in the cases of Sturgeon v. Conger (Sturgeon v Condor) (case C402/07) and Bock,Lepuschitz v Air France (Case C432/07), that air carriers are required to pay the Regulation (EC) No.261/2004 cash compensation for flights is delayed by at least 3 hours or longer from the initiallyscheduled arrival time.As the Ukrainian legislation adopted Regulation No. 261/2004, in both cases the same right to receivecash compensation is provided for in case of cancellation of the flight (Article 5 of Regulation No.261/2004, Article 105 of the Air Code of Ukraine, Chapter 3 of Section XVI of the Air Transport Rules). Inthis case, identical in both cases, the similar right to compensation in the event of the arrest of a delay isnot clearly defined. However, the European Court of Justice has repeatedly drew attention to the factthat, in interpreting the legal norms of the European Union, it is necessary to take into account not onlythe text of the standard, but also the context, the purpose of the relevant rule of law, and the reasonwith which this norm has been adopted.According to the European Court of Justice, Regulation No. 261/2004 aims to ensure a high level ofprotection for air passengers, regardless of whether their flight was canceled or delayed, as both ofthese cases lead to similar severe problems and inconveniences when using air transport. Thus, theEuropean Court of Justice emphasizes that passengers whose flights delayed can be considered to haveno right to compensation.The European Court of Justice has pointed out that Regulation No. 261/2004 seeks to providecompensation for losses in an immediate and standardized manner and in various forms to restore,among other things, the losses incurred by air passengers in connection with the loss of time. Given thatit is impossible to recover lost time, its compensation can be made only in cash. Therefore, the losseswill suffer as passengers whose flights were cancelled, and passengers whose flights were delayed. Theselosses in both cases are a loss of time. Therefore, both groups of passengers are in similar situations,which gives them the same rights to monetary compensation in the sense of Regulation No. 261/2004.In addition, Art. 5 (1)(c)(iii) of Regulation No. 261/2004, para. 4 hours 1 tbsp. 105 of the Air Code ofUkraine, para. 2 p. 1 ch. 3rd p. XVI of the Air Transport Rules identically provides that in the event ofcancellation of an airline flight, the carrier may propose an alternative route, while still a passenger ofsuch cancelled flight will be entitled to monetary compensation if he is informed about cancellation lessthen seven days before the scheduled time departure and it is suggested to change the route, which willallow you to leave from the point of departure no later than an hour before the scheduled time of

departure and arrive at the final destination no later than through two hours after the scheduledarrival time.That is, such passengers are entitled to monetary compensation when the loss of their time is equal toor greater than 3 hours about the time scheduled by the air carrier from the beginning.If, on the contrary, passengers of detained airline flights will not be entitled to compensation, they willbe discriminated against as they suffer from the same loss of time of three hours or more.It is impossible to find any arguments to justify such a different approach to passengers of detained andcancelled flights.Since the losses suffered by passengers of long-term cancelled and detained persons are similar, grantingonly one of them the right to compensation is a violation of the principle of equality of justice, which isclearly enshrined in Article 24 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Art. 7 of the Law of Ukraine "On thejudicial system and the status of judges" and also violates the purpose of Regulation No. 261/2004,Section XIII of the Air Code of Ukraine, section XVI of the Air Transport Regulations.In addition, if a flight of European and Ukrainian air carriers will take off from Ukraine, and both flightswill be delayed, the European airline will pay compensation to its passengers, and Ukrainian airline doesnot. This leads to the violation of the rights of Ukrainian citizens and foreigners, violates competition inUkraine creates discrimination against European companies, which in turn can cause dissatisfactionwith the European Union, threatening our country&#39;s relations with Europe as a whole, the achievementsalready achieved on a visa-free regime, granting Ukraine financial assistance and association with theEuropean Union in general.In connection with the above, ask:1) accept this electronic petition for consideration;2) to instruct the relevant authorities to carry out an inspection of all Ukrainian carriers regarding theviolations described in this electronic petition;3) to inform the President about the issues expressed in this electronic petition;4) to support the bill No. 8548 dated July 3, 2018, concerning the strengthening of the protection of therights of air passengers;5) to make changes to the current legislation, putting real control and responsibility for the observanceof the rights of air passengers and the technical condition of aircraft, by setting limits on the number oftechnical failures and failures of the flight schedule for a separate unit of time;6) send an answer for the petition to the following e-mail address: [email protected]